by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

Just as the skeptics predicted, we're finding out the truth about the Baltimore Orioles.

Oh, not that one.

The Orioles are in Oakland this weekend to face the Athletics in a matchup of last season's biggest surprises. And the question the A's and O's are raising is at what point do they become considered just plain, good teams rather than upstarts.

Right now, according to Athletics manager Bob Melvin, who is at least lauding the competition.

"They just have a good team," Melvin says of the 12-9 Orioles, second in the American League East entering play Thursday. "Last year, a bit of a surprise, but certainly not this year. Everyone around the league looks at them as one of the better teams in the league."

Oakland was 13-9, second in the AL West, and the two teams held down the league's wild-card spots.

Oakland's run to the 2012 AL West title, built on a remarkable second-half surge, created realistic expectations the A's could at least again hang with the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels in the division.

But last year's surprise factor for the Orioles was how they went about their business of suddenly contending in the AL East - and the assumed unlikelihood of Baltimore repeating last year's 29-9 record in one-run games, the best in major league history, and 16-2 record in extra innings.

The assumptions have proved correct - at least the part about replicating success in tight games. The Orioles are 4-4 in one-run games. An 11-inning loss Wednesday made Baltimore 1-1 in extra innings and ended a streak of 17 consecutive extra-innings wins that dated to last year.

But that hasn't translated into doom.

"The reason we won so many one-run ballgames was because of our bullpen and our starting pitching," Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy says. "We've got the same guys."

Hardy's point is that these teams are much better prepared to be contenders. They believe they belong. Their lineups and rosters are more settled now than a year ago at this time, when they were shuffling through players in search of the right combination.

"They're picking up right where they left off," Melvin says of the Orioles. "Another year of experience for guys like (Matt) Wieters and Adam Jones; these guys are really good players now, All-Stars.

The Orioles also have 2012's late-season sensation Manny Machado at third base all season and Chris Davis entrenched at first base - and leading the AL with a .740 slugging percentage - after bouncing among first, left field, right field and DH last year.

Oakland is thriving on depth, with seven players in double figures in RBI.

The top half of the batting order usually is populated with center fielder Coco Crisp, shortstop Jed Lowrie and outfielder-DH Seth Smith, all with on-base-plus-slugging percentages over 1.000.